Their Shadows Deep

A Novel

By: Peter Golden

Narrated by: Laura Darrell

The author of Nothing Is Forgotten takes a dark look at power gone too far, imagining the connection between JFK’s presidential campaign and an ex-cop’s investigation into her husband’s murder.

In 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy makes a historic run for the White House. Despite concerns about his Catholicism, Kennedy’s outward charm is winning the country over, but his inner demons are putting his candidacy in danger and risk destroying his political career.

That same year, Caitlin Russo, a former cop turned reporter, is devoting her skills to finding her husband’s killer. His job as a CIA operative posed its fair share of risks, but when Caitlin discovers his notes about the case that led to his death, she knows there’s more to the story than simple tragedy.

As Caitlin and Kennedy search for the people responsible for upending their lives, some ugly truths about American politics and foreign affairs come to light, and Caitlin finds herself in a web of deceit and shattered hopes, realizing that heroes aren’t always who they seem.

©2025 by Chestnut Street Press Inc.. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“An absorbing story . . . Golden knows how to pique our interest . . . Vivid characters and strong storytelling.”—The Washington Post

“Keenly detailed . . . compelling . . . Author Golden proves his stripes as a historian, detailing the lovers’ brief bliss in prewar Greenwich Village, separating them for their individual battles during the war, and reuniting them in a skillfully evoked postwar Paris . . . The love story is epic and truly felt. Fascinating, complex.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Each setting is recreated with a socially conscious eye, from the horrifying racism of the Jim Crow South to the Greenwich Village art scene to postwar Paris, whose residents’ emotional suffering hasn’t dimmed their appreciation for beauty. Julian and Kendall are independent, courageous people who grow over time, and their story feels undeniably romantic.”—Booklist